My 2x great-grandfather was an infantry soldier during the American Civil War. At the Battle of New Market, during stormy weather, he lay in the mud for two days and spent the rest of the war in and out of the medical camps.
Military Blog Posts
On The Farm
One of my ancestors had a unique route to farm laborer and then farm owner. My 4th great grandfather Jacob Kready came to America during the American Revolution as a soldier hired by the British.
Military
I keep a list of the military service of my direct ancestors, this week I share the list and highlight the more interesting entries.
At The Cemetery
Whenever I want to visit my deceased ancestors at the cemetery, they are just a click away. This week I highlight online memorials and virtual cemeteries.
Power
In 1941 an electric power company built hydroelectric dams on the Holston River to produce power. In the process, they displaced many Tennesseans, alive and dead. My ancestors were among the dead.
Air
During World War II my father, Bob LaFara, was a crew member on a B24 bomber in the South Pacific. The crew was part of the US Army Air Corps’ 819th Bomb Squadron.
Fire
Family legend holds that my 3rd great grandfather witnessed the famed Battle of Baltimore at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Can I prove it really happened?
Luck
I wonder how my ancestors avoided becoming infected with the 1918 influenza. Would it be luck?
David L. Osborne, Civil War Soldier
A brief biography of my great grandfather, David Louis Osborne, 1847-1942, highlighting his time as a Union soldier with the 83rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.
Letter from Sarah Tucker Lafary
A handwritten letter from Sarah Tucker Lafary to the then president of the United States, Grover Cleveland. It was her last appeal for a War of 1812 pension, sadly the pension was denied. The letter gives a glimpse of a woman who had no formal education, a poor farmers wife, then widow, mother of nine, she probably just wanted some independence through an income of her own.